Arni Forest, located at the northern boundary of Count Arni’s territory, was the largest forest in the region.
At this moment, a carriage was traveling through the woods, and inside, there was only silence.
Mida watched the shadows of the trees flash past the window in silence, while Anthony dozed on her shoulder.
According to Priest Hall, she was going to the Papal State to participate in the Holy Festival.
Mida knew very little about the Holy Festival, nor did she have much interest in it.
She had been somewhat curious at first, but now her mind was elsewhere.
Mida’s heart was constantly occupied by a certain person.
Although she had spent some time in the Papal State before, she was not actually familiar with it.
To her, it was a foreign land.
However, she felt no fear in her heart because she had already resolved to follow in Wei Bai’s footsteps and find him.
Therefore, she viewed this trip as a form of training.
Only by experiencing a long journey alone could she take another step toward chasing after Wei Bai.
If she could not even handle traveling by herself, how could she speak of searching for Wei Bai on her own?
Still, it was the first time the young girl had traveled so far from home.
It would be a lie to say she was not nervous, and at this moment, Mida’s heart was filled with extreme unease.
But as soon as she thought of Wei Bai, Mida gritted her teeth, her eyes reflecting a flash of determination.
‘Keep it up, Mida, you can do it!’
Looking at the scenery outside, Mida cheered herself once more.
Just as Mida was regaining her confidence, a violent explosion suddenly erupted from outside the carriage window.
Boom!
Dust and fallen leaves filled the air, making it impossible to open one’s eyes.
Mida’s carriage had been overturned by the blast.
The horses pulling the carriage were nowhere to be seen, and the driver was unconscious.
“What happened?”
Inside the carriage, Mida was tossed about by the shock of the explosion, while Anthony fluttered his wings in a panic.
Meanwhile, the voices of a group of people could be heard from outside.
“Boss, is this the carriage we’re supposed to rob?”
“Just do your job. Why are you talking so much?”
“Oh, right. Okay.”
A moment later, the carriage curtain was ripped away.
What entered Mida’s sight was a group of people dressed in various outfits, all of whom looked ferocious.
Mida immediately thought of a type of person who made a living solely by robbing others.
Bandits.
The leader of the bandits had a large gold tooth and a burly physique.
He held a long-handled greataxe and was looking at Mida with great interest.
Beside him, a man as thin as a monkey held a machete and was prying at the wooden boards of the carriage.
With a loud ‘clatter’, the monkey-like man successfully dismantled the boards.
Mida was now completely exposed to the group’s gaze, with nowhere left to hide.
“She’s quite a pretty thing.”
The bandit leader suddenly smiled.
He looked at Mida’s face, his eyes narrowing like a hungry wolf eyeing a lamb.
“Skinny Monkey, dig this girl out,” the bandit leader said, then instructed the others, “Everyone, search the carriage for everything valuable. Don’t leave a single thing behind.”
“Yes, Boss Gold Tooth!”
Following the leader’s signal, the bandits swarmed the wreckage and began rummaging through it.
“Who are you? What are you doing?”
Mida looked at the bandits in front of her with terror.
She felt utterly helpless and desperate.
Why did it have to be her? How could she be this unlucky?!
“Us? Is that any of your business? Once you’re in our stronghold, you’ll find out exactly who we are.”
Gold Tooth gave a lecherous smile, staring at Mida’s chest and licking his lips.
“Not bad. You’ve got some looks.”
Feeling his vulgar and lewd gaze, Mida instinctively shrank back, but she was quickly pulled out by Skinny Monkey.
Forced to stand before the bandits, Mida was in a state of extreme panic.
Her legs would not stop shaking at the thought of what these men might do to her.
She clutched Anthony in her arms, trying her best to appear somewhat calm.
Upon seeing Anthony, Gold Tooth’s eyebrows twitched.
“Oh? You’ve even got a little bird? You sure are unique. Of all things to keep, why a crow? Now look what happened — you’ve run into some real bad luck.”
“What I keep is none of your business!”
Hearing Gold Tooth speak this way, Mida’s emotions flared, causing her to forget her current situation as she snapped back.
“Fine, I won’t waste time arguing with you. Take her back!”
Gold Tooth waved his hand impatiently, clearly not intending to speak with Mida further.
He ordered his subordinates to escort Mida away.
Carrying their loot, the group headed deep into the forest.
***
Wei Bai sat inside a carriage, looking out the window with boredom.
The sky was currently a brilliant gold, filled with large patches of fiery clouds.
The journey at dusk had its own unique charm.
“Hey, Big Guy, have you eaten yet?”
Jiu, who was clutching her bow, suddenly asked.
“No,” Grey said, also feeling a bit hungry.
“Let’s go. We should find a place to settle down for the night.”
Just as Jiu was about to tell the driver to stop, the carriage came to a halt on its own.
“Folks, we’ll be staying here for the night. Stay safe and don’t wander off,” the driver said as he passed by the window after parking the carriage.
Seeing this, the group quickly got out.
They were currently starving and couldn’t wait to find something to eat.
When traveling far, everyone carried their own rations, but most of it was dry, coarse grain that was difficult to swallow.
If possible, even having it with some wild vegetable soup was better than eating it dry.
Wei Bai also got out of the carriage, though he followed behind the other four, staying close to Taolani.
In truth, Wei Bai hadn’t brought any food with him.
He only had a small pouch containing some gold coins and potions, a cloth bag filled with magic scrolls, and the Brilliant Throne strapped to his back.
To him, carrying too many things would only be a burden.
He could rely on his excellent survival skills to find food in the wilderness.
At worst, he could transform into Mo Baiwei.
As long as there were plants around, an elf could basically find something edible.
The worst-case scenario was just chewing on some wild fruit; it wasn’t as if he had never done that before.
After getting off the carriage, the adventurer team split up.
Jiu, holding her bow, went into the woods by the roadside to look for prey.
Grey went to find firewood, while Rom stayed behind to set up a safety formation.
Currently, only Wei Bai and Taolani had nothing to do.
They stood to the side, watching the others work with a sense of uncertainty.
“Is Mr. Francis not going for a walk in the woods to relax?”
Taolani suddenly asked out of the blue.
Wei Bai felt somewhat confused by the question.
“Why would I go for a walk in the woods? It’s pitch black in there. What would I do?”
“Oh, I thought Mr. Francis would like it,” Taolani replied in her usual light tone. After speaking, she muttered under her breath, “Logically, he should like it.”
“What did you say?”
Wei Bai didn’t hear the latter part of her sentence, only the first half.
“Why would I like such a gloomy place? It’s almost night. If there are wild beasts or something, wouldn’t I just be looking for trouble?”
Wei Bai wasn’t actually afraid of wild beasts, but the thought of staying alone in a dark forest at night, with weeds up to his knees and dry leaves crunching underfoot, made him feel uneasy.
Although he often went to the woods in Carven City at night, those woods were at least within the city limits and much cleaner than these wild forests.
Forest rangers also cleared out the weeds and dead leaves regularly.
Furthermore, he had only gone into the woods in Carven City because he was forced to.
Now, he no longer had that necessity.
Ever since he gained the ability to use the pendant’s energy, it hadn’t overflowed in a long time.
Naturally, he didn’t have to worry about the pendant reaching capacity and causing the suppression effect to fail.
“Hmm…”
Upon hearing his response, Taolani pulled out a small notebook from her pocket and began writing and drawing in it.
“What are you writing?” Wei Bai asked, curious about her actions.
“Recording the habits of other races,” Taolani replied, her hand moving without pause.
Wei Bai leaned in curiously, but just as he was about to take a peek, Taolani slammed the notebook shut.
“I won’t let you see.”
Her tone held a rare hint of stubbornness.
Pouting, she said, “Doesn’t Mr. Francis know to respect a lady’s privacy?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Wei Bai’s cheeks felt a bit warm as he hurriedly apologized.
He really hadn’t been paying attention and had leaned over instinctively.
Being used to acting carelessly, he simply hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Hmph!”
Taolani turned her head away, no longer looking at Wei Bai.
“This notebook can only be seen by cute girls. Mr. Francis, please behave yourself. I don’t like people of the opposite sex who have no sense of distance.”
“Right, okay.”
After being lectured by Taolani, Wei Bai knew he was in the wrong and had to lower his stance to apologize.
Who told him to be so careless?
However…
As Wei Bai listened to Taolani’s words, a bold suspicion gradually formed in his mind.
Could this Blood Demon in front of him… be into girls?
She even emphasized that only girls could look at the book with her.
As soon as this thought appeared, alarm bells went off in Wei Bai’s head.
He absolutely could not let her see him in his Mo Baiwei form.
He had a premonition that if she saw Mo Baiwei, there was no telling what kind of disaster might occur.
It seemed he had to be on his guard.
He needed to hide his identity well and make sure Taolani didn’t find out.
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